Researchers have spotted a giant gas cloud spiralling into the supermassive black hole at our galaxy's centre.
Though it is known that black holes draw in everything nearby, it will be the first chance to see one consume such a cloud.
As it is torn apart, the turbulent area around the black hole
will become unusually bright, giving astronomers a chance to learn more
about it.
The cloud, which is described in Nature, should meet its end in 2013.
Researchers using the European Southern Observatory's Very
Large Telescope estimate that despite its size, the cloud has a total
mass of only about three times that of Earth.
They have plotted the cloud's squashed, oval-shaped path and
estimate it has doubled its speed in the last seven years - to 2,350km
per second.
It should spiral in to within about 40 billion kilometres of the black hole in the middle of 2013.
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| Simulations suggest that the cloud will be ripped to bits and partially swallowed by the black hole |
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| Astrophysicists now have a snapshot of a rare event for the first time: a black hole eating its cold and dusty dinner. Pictured is the center of our universe where the Sgr A* (pronounced Sagittarius A star) black hole is gobbling up a ball of dust three times the size of the Earth. |
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